Jaclyn had always known her strengths and weaknesses.
Her mouth? A standout asset. Those lips had never backed away from a tough negotiation.
But maybe, for the first time in her life, she wasn’t using them for a power play. Sure, she’d wanted to in the past, but never like this.
Impulsive. Insistent. Greedy.
So desperate to please Richard, she might as well tag “Master” before his name. She’d spent so much of the day with Mr. Tall, Smart, and Handsome, she couldn’t let it end without making a memory. And by the looks of him, he needed a little more than a thank-you peck on the cheek or a warm hug good-bye to remember her by.
Fuck that. It had to be something he’d never forget.
Another check for her assets column: making an impression.
Pretty much wherever she went, and whomever she saw, Jaclyn left her mark. Good or bad, it was indelible. Her father called it a weakness, always reminding her of the not-so-positive impacts people rarely forgot. She shrugged it off as a stepping-stone to greatness. And today, she qualified it as a standout strength.
Regardless of whatever label she chose to slap on it, today was one of the best of her life. So, for him, it had to be unforgettable too.
She was pretty sure that no matter what happened from here on out, Richard would never pass a field of bluebonnets without thinking of her. True, they only bloomed once a year, but their color would blaze across the countryside for a solid six weeks. That’s a month and a half of every year that his mind wouldn’t escape the thought of her tantalizing lips wrapped around his dick.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
Though her first impressions were legendary, it was her final one she worried about. Her relationships could be called three things—full throttle, fast, and forgettable. Leading her to a daunting conclusion about the fate for her and Richard.
It won’t last.
Her greatest weakness was men. Not attracting them. She was a Marilyn in all the right, curvaceous ways, so luring men was never difficult. The problem was keeping them. If Richard walked the well-worn path of all the men before him, sooner or later he’d stroll away.
She was addicted to work, and men got tired of waiting around. If a boyfriend needed her at the same time work did, work got her undivided attention, and a hottie with a nice cock hit the back burner. So she kept her eyes on the corporate prize, and invested in an impressive collection of superb vibrators.
Though Jaclyn had been proposed to several times, she’d brushed them all off. Only one suitor remained, diligently failing to take hint after painful hint. It was like that bad joke. If you were the last two people on the planet and the future of mankind was at stake . . .
Yeah, life as we know it would end with me, because I’d kill that son of a bitch.
The noncontender in question, Jim Baxter, was just slimy enough to cling like phlegm. And despite her best efforts to shake him off, his corporate holdings and financial status kept him in the running. He held every bullshit title, and represented things like fine lines and good breeding. Husband material? Definite pass. He checked every pretty little box but one. Because hell would freeze over before he’d get anywhere near hers.
But Richard was an outlier, set so far apart from the pack he might as well be his own breed of man. This stud of a tough guy was toned down by his choir-boy charisma and soft-sided kindness. What was not to like?
And those eyes. Something about that brilliant blue was like looking at the sun. Too much of his piercing gaze was dangerous, like he was chipping away her armor from the inside out, one layer at a time.
Sure, she’d been coddled by men, but never really cared for. And her money seemed to be the furthest thing from this man’s mind.
Was that possible? Could a man exist who wanted every part of her except her bank account?
For argument’s sake, let’s say he was no different from anyone else in that regard. Hell, she was used to it. She might as well wear a sash that read winning lotto ticket. So, if she never married, no one could ever collect. Maybe it was more than a boycott on matrimony, and instead just a barricade against her real Achilles heel . . .
Love.
Jaclyn’s passions were boundless. But she knew the consequences.
Her mother’s sickness was the pivotal life event that had forged her. It was the only time in her life her father had dropped everything, grasping at every straw to make his wife well.
Perspectives shift when a man frantically throws cash at the problem, but the money becomes meaningless. He couldn’t change the outcome, because in the end, money doesn’t matter.
Maybe it was that piece of Richard she’d latched onto so hard. That somehow, he got it too. She could feel the hole in his heart, because the size and depth of it were so much like her own. A connection that drove her right into his arms.
And down to her knees.
Somehow, she’d sold herself on this seduction being a moment of frolicking fun. In reality, the act was much more desperate.
Their perfect time together ticked by like a waiting bomb. Without knowing the day or hour of their destruction, she was prepared for the worst by the shell shock of relationships past.
Wrapping her lips around his cock, she fed her emotions with a preemptive farewell gift. A great big one that had all the makings of satisfying a deeper hunger.
Right here, right now, he’s mine.
I’m his.
And the last damn thing on his mind is my money.